After over a month of rampant speculation, a media frenzy, and calls from practically every level of government to get to the bottom of the mysterious drones sightings in New Jersey and beyond, one seemingly credible theory about the source of the drones, with evidence to back it up, has come to the surface.
According to exclusive reporting by the Daily Mail, official U.S. government records show that in 2018 a $50 million defense contract was awarded to a private robotics company in New Jersey to develop drones capable of capturing 3D maps of urban areas for a “counter weapons of mass destruction” program.
The contract was awarded by the Army’s Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) which is located at the Picatinny Arsenal in Rockaway, New Jersey, where mysterious drones were first spotted last month. The company who won the contract is Maryland-based Robotics Research.
The White House says that the drones are not operated by a foreign adversary, nor are they part of a U.S. military operation and they insist — while claiming not to know the source of the drones — that they pose no threat to the public.
Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) implemented flight restrictions over Picatinny Arsenal, for “special security reasons” beginning on November 21 through to December 26.
Success
You are now signed up for our newsletter
Success
Check your email to complete sign up
Rudy Ridolfi, a retired CIA Intelligence Officer told the Daily Mail, “This FAA notice shows U.S. drone testing is happening in the area. It’s a warning for others to stay out of the area during those dates,” adding that, “While the nature of the testing isn’t specified, it’s most likely the testing of payloads related to reconnaissance.”
In addition, Matt Sloane of consulting firm, AI Skyfire, also told the Daily Mail that the drones may belong to a contractor developing a system for the Department of Defense (DoD).
The reason why the government can deny responsibility for the drones is because the drones were placed on a “secure tech list” which allows the government to apply special restrictions on the tech and allows the developer to hold primary liability for their use, not the government, Ridolfi said.
RELATED:
Picatinny Arsenal denies involvement
Meanwhile, a Picatinny Arsenal spokesperson told the Daily Mail that the drones are not “directed actions” of the arsenal.
“We can confirm that they are not the result of any Picatinny Arsenal or DEVCOM Armaments Center directed actions,” the spokesperson said.
However, this does not mean that the drones are not being operated by subcontractors from the arsenal.
“They could have been testing them in a different place on a military installation and now it was time to move the testing out to a public area,” Sloane said, adding that, “The military has in various places around the country that are out of the way of prying eyes. Maybe it was just time to graduate that testing to the public.”
Despite New Jersey law enforcement witnessing a number instances of odd nighttime drone flights, authorities have insisted that the sightings are either normal manned aircraft operating legally, misidentified natural phenomena like stars and planets, or legally flown hobby drones.
Sloane noted a similar incident in Colorado from 2019 to 2020, when swarms of mysterious drones, described as having flashing or steady white, red or green lights, were witnessed in the sky. This is very similar to what is being witnessed in Jersey and other states nearby.
Media reports at the time speculated that the drones were a “secretive Air Force program intended to keep prying eyes away from nuclear silos.”
Later, the Air Force Global Strike Command, located in Louisiana, said that it regularly conducts “counter-drone” activities out of an Air Force base in Cheyenne, just north of Denver, Colorado.
READ MORE:
- Rescue Mission in Mayotte, Finding Survivors and Dead Hit by Cyclone Chido
- China Cracks Down on Youth With Mandatory Draft Registration, Sparking Public Outcry
- In ‘Dark Calories’, a Warning About the Dangers of Vegetable Oils and Unquestioned Nutritional Beliefs
A combination of things
So, many are now speculating that the thousands of reports of drones that have flooded an FBI hotline set up to track drone sightings are a result of a combination of things; regular legally flying aircraft, hobby drones, misinterpreted natural phenomenon and actual drones operating out of Picatinny Arsenal.
This is perhaps why the Biden administration is insisting that there is nothing “nefarious” about the drone activity, something he repeated on Dec. 17.
“There are a lot of drones authorized. We are following this closely. So far no sense of danger,” the outgoing president said after he left the White House for a trip to Delaware on Tuesday..
However, this has not stopped a number of state and municipal lawmakers from demanding more resources and legislation to address their constituents’ concerns.
U.S. Congresswoman, Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, has drafted an extensive plan to address the issue.
She wants to deploy Reaper drones and radar to locate and track the drones, and give the FBI the ability to use the Reaper drones “in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, to track these UAS and identify their locations of origin.”
She also wants to “coordinate congressional information sharing” and to create a centralized response. She wants to “formulate a whole-of-government approach and ensure that all information that is appropriate for the public to have is shared in a timely manner.”
Additionally she wants to set up a process that would allow for future detection and prevention of illegal drone incursions and provide lawmakers with any and all resources required to address the issue.
“Therefore, I am calling on the leaders of the agencies with jurisdiction over this issue to collaborate on a report to Congress that contains a detailed request for any novel legal authorities they believe they require and any new resources, financial or otherwise, they believe they require to ensure that they are fully capable of swiftly and decisively responding to UAS incursions in the future,” she wrote on her district’s website.
